Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Sells 2,560 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 53.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,560 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ECL opened at $251.44 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $244.33 and a 200 day moving average of $236.02. The company has a market cap of $71.80 billion, a PE ratio of 46.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $253.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.21.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.